The decision to ban a United States theme and marine park from breeding orca in captivity is a historic move, says New Zealand orca expert Dr Ingrid Visser.
The California Coastal Commission last week decided to ban captive whale breeding and drastically restrict the movement of whales in and out of SeaWorld San Diego.
SeaWorld was granted permission to double the size of its orca enclosures as part of a $100-million project that it said would enhance the habitat of the whales and improve research opportunities.
Another condition was a cap of 15 whales at the San Diego attraction, which now houses 11.
Dr Visser, the head of the Orca Research Trust, was the first of about 50 speakers, including actress and animal-rights activist Pamela Anderson, at the hearing held at Long Beach Convention Centre last Friday.
Actress Pamela Anderson, a passionate animal rights activist, holds up a 'No' sign in protest at SeaWorld keeping orcas captive at the marine park. Photo / AP
During her 15 minute presentation she told the hearing it was important to separate the business rhetoric from the facts.
Dr Visser said she spoke from the heart and while the orca tanks would double in size, "a prison was still a prison" and did not cater for the daily activities orca carried out in the wild.
Whales in the wild swam an average distance of 222km per day and dived to depths of about 182m.
"These new tanks do not meet these basic requirements," she said. "No facility ever will."
Loss of the orca shows would be a huge blow to SeaWorld, as they were the top attraction at the park.
They are a corporate business and not in this for animal welfare, they are in it to make money.
The conditions did not apply to the other two SeaWorld parks in Florida and Texas.
Dr Visser was impressed with Pamela Anderson and said she clearly cared about the animals.
SeaWorld officials opposed the condition barring breeding, saying it would mean that the park's population of 11 whales would be the last orcas held there.
"A ban on breeding would sentence these animals to a slow extinction in our care," said John Reilly, president of SeaWorld San Diego.
The day before speaking at the hearing, security guards asked Dr Visser to leave San Diego's SeaWorld when they spotted her taking photos of the mammals in the tank. She has visited all three SeaWorld sites and this was the first time she had been asked to leave.
"If they had nothing to hide they would be inviting us there," she said.
Dr Visser and those she was with stayed long enough to watch the orca show before leaving.
